A wildfire burning in dry grasslands in a lowly populated part of central Washington state grew dramatically on Thursday, driven by hot weather and gusty winds.
The fire burning northwest of the town of Quincy increased in size from 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) on Wednesday to 74 square miles (192 square kilometers) on Thursday, the state Department of Natural Resources said. It was being fought by 275 firefighters, who had it 20 percent contained.
"Dry and gusty red flag conditions resulted in extreme fire growth in steep and rugged terrain," the agency said in statement.